Generation has passed by since you marvelled the invention of the Walkman and even the CD Walkman. Okay, you have had enough of your Walkman and your CD Walkman either. It is time to move on to the newest trend in portable music: the MP3. And while the MP3 is making big waves not only in the United States but also to the entire world (special mention to iTunes and iPod for making this possible), several online music download companies are hitting big time for services rendered to those who want to have music compiled then in their PC, burn them to their CDs or store them to their portable music devices. Either way, you are prompted with different choices of music downloads online that somehow makes you confused in selecting the right one for you.



So to end your suffering and finally decide where to go, here is useful information regarding some of the biggest online download companies:

Apple iTunes – Speaking about service, the Apple iTunes gives the best and the worst. Let's start with the positive. The iTunes has one of the widest selections of songs in almost all genre you can download. If you have LAN connection and a clan of music lovers, this is for you. Price is pretty standard: $0.99 per song. Now the drawback: when you download using iTunes, no matter how much you want it, you can never play it on other programs except iPod and iTunes. So if worse comes to worse and the only available player is the Windows Media, your $0.99 worth of single track remains unheard. Nontheless if you like iTunes and have an iPod, this would work for you well.

Music Match – An 800,000-song library is definitely a great deal. Each track is worth 99 cents and the monthly subscription is $9.99. Standard price.

Napster – Yep! You heard it right. Napster is back from its eternal sleep. And not only it is back, it is also prepared to keep you grooving to its wide selection of tracks. But unlike before, you can get music here with a price to pay. A song costs $0.99. If you prefer access to its entire catalogue, subscribe at $9.99 a month and get those songs streaming to your PC. You don't own them though. Meaning, once your subscription expired, all the songs you have will all be gone in an instant. A more expensive subscription with a price tad of $14.95 can let you own for a month an 80-hour worth of song. Again, you don't own them and once the subscription expires, the songs will too.

MSN Music – It might be your favorite because songs here can be played virtually on any type of media player. Songs are continuously growing, an understandable situation considering it has only started in the second half of 2005. Each song is worth $0.99.

Yahoo Music – Like the MSN, Yahoo is also in this field. If you want cheaper song, try it. Each track costs only $0.79; 20 cents cheaper than other music download sites with over a million of songs you can choose from. Subscription is also cheaper than others. One month of full access to their music library could only cost you $4.99.

Virgin – You heard it right, even the online music business is being ventured by Richard Branson. Great one-month subscription deal: $7.99. That is, if you never desire to burn it to your CD or transfer it to your portable device.

Walmart – With over 500,000 songs on the library, you cant get too much from Walmart but price wise, it is cheap but not cheaper than Yahoo. Each track costs 88 cents so if you want a song that is not on Yahoo but on Walmart, it's all you need.